8 Ways the Biden Administration Has Fought for Working People by Strengthening Unions

[Omaha Steve]

https://www.americanprogressaction.org/article/8-ways-the-biden-administration-has-fought-for-working-people-by-strengthening-unions/

DEC 19, 2023

At a time when Americans are at their most pro-union, President Joe Biden and his administration are using all the levers of government to support working people and unions.

Across the country, workers—from autoworkers and delivery drivers to health care workers and baristas—are in motion asserting their right to form unions, and once they have them, they are demanding a much-needed raise. Support for unions among the American public in recent years is the highest it has been in decades, and approximately half of nonunion workers say they would join a union if they could.

The Biden administration has met this moment by fighting for reforms to help working people exercise their rights on the job. This is an uphill battle: Outdated federal labor laws stack the deck against workers and allow corporations to fight unionization efforts through both legal and illegal means. Moreover, MAGA Republicans oppose reforms—such as the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act) and the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act—that would ensure all Americans who want to join a union are able to do so. Only two House Republicans (and no Republicans in the Senate) sponsored the PRO Act this session, while support among democratic lawmakers is nearly unanimous. Conversely, more than half of House and Senate Republicans (but no congressional Democrats) are advancing reforms, such as the National Right to Work Act, that would weaken workers’ ability to come together in strong unions.

Yet the Biden administration is using its legislative, regulatory, and administrative powers to support unions and working people. This helps working people across the economy, not just union members. When unions are strong, research shows that nonunion companies increase their wages in order to compete for workers; that the gap between the rich and everyone else shrinks; and that children born into poverty have a better shot at climbing the economic ladder as adults.

This column details the ways in which President Joe Biden and his administration are supporting strong unions.

1. Supporting workers on the picket line

FULL story at link above.